"Two months out of the almost two years that the girls have served is not much," Tolokonnikova's husband, Pyotr Verzilov, told CNN. "So the effect of this amnesty for Maria and Nadezhda is not really felt."

The Russian government said the amnesty marked the anniversary of the adoption of Russia's post-Communist constitution in 1993.

But Tolokonnikova, released from a Siberian facility on Monday, told CNN she felt that the amnesty was a publicity stunt to bolster the government's image before it hosts the Winter Olympics in February. Verzilov said much the same.

"President Putin obviously used this amnesty option to (brighten) up his image before the Olympic games," Verzilov said.

Russia's record on human rights is in the spotlight as the country prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Pussy Riot's 2012 performance of a "punk prayer" that criticized Putin, who was prime minister at the time, was held at a Russian Orthodox cathedral. The musicians were found guilty of hooliganism.

Tolokonnikova went on a hunger strike during her prison term to protest what she said were poor conditions at a Mordovian prison. In October, she was transferred to a Siberian facility for medical treatment, and she remained there until her release Monday.

She said Monday that she is eager to help Russian prisoners by calling attention to conditions they face. But first, she said, she is looking forward to reuniting with family, including her 5-year-old daughter in Moscow. - [CNN]

11:42 -- You call this a media creation, yet you sit comfortably at your computer in the United States, which despite its many problems, is not a totalitarian police state. These women were political prisoners who were punished disproportionately to the crime they were convicted of and sent to a penal colony (i.e. gulag). That they are bringing some attention to what is happening in Russia and the plight of political (and other) prisoners there is more than you will ever do in your entire privileged life.

Wow...check out www.ChristmasChildrenMusic.com and the Christmas Children music video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wELNL7tioI . Great video and song. LOL…I have already played it at least 50 times and finally broke down and bought the song.

Yeah 1:53, two years in a gulag really seems like a reasonable punishment for their performance art stunt. Basically, the criticized Putin and the Orthodox Church and were sent to a prison camp for two years. Oh, and they also had a fair trial and the Russian judiciary is independent . . . . You're a freaking moron.

Why I am posting on the hummus board I don't know...but let's get it straight: American punks think they are rebellious risk-takers, these women are the real thing. They got 2 years for a stunt and could have gotten much more -- they served nearly all of it, and when Putin let them out, they gave him the finger in response. If you think standing up to the 2d most powerful person on the planet isn't courageous--well, let me see you do it.

Not say that Putin's tenure is free of blemishes or corruption, but living standards in the country have stabilized under his watch, the economy has improved significantly, and political pluralism is arguably at a highpoint. There are no doubt authoritarian characteristics to Putin's leadership, but the extent to which these factors are exaggerated by Western commentators is totally not warranted, or even factual. Russia doesn't even practice capital punishment.

I hear you 4:47am. Defending Putin is quite something. He is just another in a long line of autocrats to rule Russia since the beginning of time. They had a few good years under Gorbachev and Yeltsin (although the economy was a complete shambles then) and then came Putin and it looks like Russia is stuck with him. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Are we really discussing the state of modern day Russia? What, not enough destruction for you in America these days? Wake up, or shut up - your choice - but don't talk to me about Russia like you actually care.

I rather live in Russia any day than country controlled by sharia law. The real hardcore feminists are the ones who died advancing women's rights in the middle east, but white feminist always seem to forget the ones with skin darker than khaki.